


The Eighteen's Club

by cheektocheekinhell



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, ain't nobody got time for tags, plan? what plan?, someone else make dayeon content pls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:15:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27537427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheektocheekinhell/pseuds/cheektocheekinhell
Summary: Mina is mourning.Tzuyu wants an escape.Dahyun is numb.Nayeon feels too much.Or,Highschool drama becomes the least of their worries when nine girls start receiving demands by text.Will they be able to identify the anonymous sender before all of their secrets are revealed?Or will they lose themselves in the process?
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Myoui Mina, Im Nayeon/Kim Dahyun
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	1. Speak of the devil

**Author's Note:**

> :)

It’s ok, it’s ok, it’s ok, you’re ok.

“What are you mumbling about over there penguin?”

Mina’s eyes widened at her father’s voice. She hadn’t realized that her tortured musings had had an audience. Or that she had been chanting them out loud like a weird mantra. She was usually better at freaking out quietly. This whole new school thing was really throwing her off her game.

Seeing the increasingly worried expression growing on her father’s face, she threw out a quick, “Nothing!” before busying herself with clearing the table.

He didn’t look completely convinced, but Mina managed a smile as he sauntered up to her and he smiled back seemingly reassured by her change of mood.

“You sure? Because I was really hoping you were beautiful minding some shit.” He winked at her as he snatched up her dirty utensils before she could get to them. “Imagine having a super genius for a daughter.”

“She already is a genius.” Her mother said waltzing into the dinning room, joining what was apparently a fun new family activity called ‘Pay special attention to Mina while she’s miserable.’ Her mother was dressed for work and her pantsuit screamed ‘professional’, yet that did not stop her from berating her father and childishly slapping him on the shoulder, “Also, stop swearing like a teenager in front of her.” Her mother pecked her on the forehead, ignoring her father’s pleas of innocence.

“But you don’t understand, mom,” Mina started, hoping that acting like she was fine was going to help her forget how not fine she was, “ he’s not a regular dad, he’s a cool dad.”

Her father dramatically clutched his chest as her mother sighed exasperatedly, taking the plate from Mina’s hands. She tried to protest that she could clean her own dishes and didn’t need to be coddled, but her mother was already halfway to the kitchen. She wasn’t able to go after her either, because Mina was stuck in a suffocating bear hug. All of this for a pop reference. As annoying as her parents were, at least they proved to be a decent distraction from her impeding doom.

“I love you so much penguin,” Her father planted a kiss in the same spot that her mother had. Mina resigned herself to her faith, knowing from experience that trying to get out of his hugs was entirely impossible. “I knew you were my favorite child for a reason!”

Mina froze.

Oh.

There used to be someone who was sly enough to get out of her father’s hug. He wasn’t here anymore though.

Mina heard what she assumed was her dirty plate being dropped and breaking on tiles, followed by a loud slew of curses.

“Shit, shit, could someone get me a broom please?” her mother half-screamed from the kitchen, thankfully sounding angrier than hurt.

Mina felt her father’s arms release her, and a moment passed without anything happening. She had never been a big fan of eye contact, but her father always seemed to be searching for it, like he needed it to communicate efficiently. She hated that, hated that she could usually tell everything that someone was feeling through their eyes. She already had her own overwhelming emotions to handle, she didn’t need everyone else’s too.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” he finally said, not pushing her to look up at him like he would’ve probably preferred. Mina nodded, not sure what the appropriate response was here. “I have a big mouth,” he added with a tentative hint of humor.

She eagerly accepted the olive branch that he was handing her. She simply patted his hand, afraid that if she went in for another hug she would start crying.

“It’s okay,” she whispered in a tone that was more hurt than she would’ve liked. Anticipating her usual need for some peace and quiet, he started to make his way to the kitchen, but Mina didn’t want to leave it at that. She didn’t want to have a heavy heart the whole day. “You do have a big mouth!” she blurted out in a clumsy attempt at alleviating the tension.

He turned back slightly to look at her and Mina accidently made eye contact with him. There was still guilt, but he seemed relieved to be forgiven. Lighthearted mockery had always been the way to his heart, not acceptance. She should’ve gone for the joke answer right off the bat.

“Hey, I am still your father who is worthy of respect. And as your father who is worthy of respect, I say that you are absolutely right.” He smiled at her and she smiled back, grateful that the situation hadn’t turned into a sob fest. “Go get ready, I’ll be there in a sec.”

Mina did as he told her. She was not desperate enough to skip the first day of school in exchange for dealing with her mother’s grieving process, which was not grieving at all.

As she waited at the door for her father to drive her to school, she felt the nervousness slowly settle back in. The abrupt memory of her dead brother had somehow dulled the anxiousness, but it was now coming back in full force. She had to keep reminding herself that it was going to be ok and that she would get through it like she had everything else. Despite that, she kept coming back to how she had felt earlier and reveled in it.

She knew it wasn’t a good way to handle her feelings but mourning him was the worst thing she had had to experience. It was hard not to take an out when it was so readily offered to her. Just thinking about her brother was enough to overshadow any other pain and that kind of sadness had the power to mellow her nervousness. However, she found it more and more difficult to make herself feel how she had when died. She knew what it was, she was familiar with the ins and outs of grief, but it was still jarring that it had happened in such a short time. She was already habituating to his loss, and she found herself accidently thinking about him less and less. Today had been the first time in about a month.

She wondered if that made her a bad person.

She wondered if she would find a feeling as extreme as that ever again.

She wondered how she was going to cope if not.

***

Dahyun was on a mission. A very important mission. One that might also cost her her life, which was why Chaeyoung was with her. Officially, Chaeyoung was her partner in crime. Unofficially? She was the sacrifice.

“This is great, I’ve always wanted to witness a murder,” her sacrificial lamb whispered way too close to her ear.

Dahyun swatted blindly to shoo the girl away and a pained groaned resonated behind her when her hand connected. The retaliation was swift and totally unjust, and they spent the next minute taking jabs at each other while trying to say quiet. Fighting with her best friend while crouched behind a trashcan was not how she thought her first morning of junior year was going to go. When it was clear that they were going nowhere with the physical assault, Dahyun proposed a truce. Obviously, she would have won, because she was so much taller, therefore stronger than the other girl. It was only sensible that she be the bigger person. Chaeyoung accepted her offer of peace, and, exhausted, flopped down on the floor with the loudest exhale ever known to man. Dahyun panicked and shushed her, but it ended up being louder than the exhale, so now they were at an impasse. Chaeyoung exploded in a fit of non-silent giggles and Dahyun got the urge to hit her some more.

“Do you have a death wish or something? Shush!”

“I do have a death wish,” Chaeyoung managed to get out in between laughs. “Yours,” the girl announced proudly, pointing a finger at Dahyun like it could have been about anyone else and the hallway wasn’t empty.

She slapped the finger away because it was rude to point.

“I thought we were partners in crime, you can’t wish for my death,” Dahyun said offended at the betrayal.

Chaeyoung snorted and pointed at her again despite the glare Dahyun was directing at her raised finger, “The fuck we were. I know you’re setting me up as your sacrifice.”

Damn it, she should have guessed that her best friend would know her too well to get duped.

As Dahyun was about to bullcrap her way out this, the door next to her was swung open. Dahyun froze while Chaeyoung tried to scamper away but found a way to immediately trip and land right back where she started. They were the perfect representation of the fight-or-flight response if fight-or-flight was actually freeze-or-flight.

“Chaeyoung?”

“Nope.”

“Chaeyoung, I know it’s you.”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Alright, not Chaeyoung. Can you tell me what you’re doing sprawled out on the floor behind a trashcan with…” Dahyun kept her eyes firmly shut, hoping for her outstanding immobility to giver her the gift of invisibility, “the Class President?”

Dahyun snapped her eyes opened and stared up at the ceiling where she knew God was looking down at her laughing. How dare he let her down in her hour of need.

“Jihyo, who the hell is it!?” the voice of Satan herself made its way to Dahyun’s poor poor ears and she cringed.

“It’s Chaeyoungie!”

Alright, that wasn’t Jihyo, or if it was that was a very creepy change in attitude. Dahyun saw in the corner of her eye a blur of blonde before her best friend was tackled mercilessly to the ground. Ah, so the sacrifice was already beginning. If she didn’t get herself out of this, Dahyun was next. She was torn between her survival instincts and her duty as Class President.

“Sana, I can’t breathe.” Chaeyoung was completely hidden under Sana’s frame who was gigantic compared to the tiny girl, which was not that hard of a feat to be honest. Looking the slightest bit apologetic, Sana rolled off and laid on the floor, instead cuddling Chaeyoung’s side.

“Oopsie,” was all the blonde offered as an apology, which was apparently accepted seeing as Chaeyoung was now waving at yet another person joining them. Great, more people were coming to appraise Dahyun’s failings.

“Hi Chaeyoung, hi Prez.” Momo didn’t even question their presence or why they were on the ground. She quickly laid down besides them and joyfully participated in the impromptu cuddle session.

“Do you really have to be on the floor for this, that’s disgusting.”

Dahyun wanted to die. Jeongyeon was so cool and now she was witness to just how uncool Dahyun was. This was great, all the members of that godforsaken club were slowly coming out one by one to embarrass her further. And Dahyun knew exactly how many members there were. And who they were. And what they did. But for the love of everything that was holy she could not figure out what that damned club was about. She had interviewed so many, bribed others and had sold her soul to the devil for a hint. That hint had turned out to be the name of the club, a name she already knew because of her thorough investigation. Of course, she pretended that it was brand new information, so as to not admit to the demon that she had been bamboozled.

The Eighteen’s Club

It made no sense. There were five members in that club. Five. Not eighteen. Not even nine. Nine was half of eighteen. Three was a third of nine. But they were not nine, and they were not three. They were five. Dahyun would have loved to hate all of them, but she settled for just the one. She had too social a job to be on bad terms with everyone. She could afford to want to strangle one, and she had chosen someone who was evil incarnate. Someone she had already despised anyway.

“What the fuck are you guys doing?”

Speak of the devil.

“I found them trying to spy on our meeting. Again,” Jihyo stated calmly despite her crossing her arms like a disappointed mother. Dahyun cleared her throat and got up as gracefully as she could.

“I have to apologize for my friend here,” Dahyun said while gesturing to the floor where Chaeyoung was hiding in the crook of Sana’s neck to avoid being further scolded. “I found her outrageously listening in, and as the acting Class President, I could not just stand by and do nothing. But not to worry, as you can see, she has been physically restrained and will not be bothering you anymore.”

Nayeon, who had so far been acting unlike herself seeing as Dahyun had yet to be skinned alive, took a step towards her. Dahyun refused to back down but did have half a mind to elbow the demon for getting up in her space. Nayeon had been getting way too comfortable with that lately, and Dahyun was starting to regret not fearing for her life more

“That’s a load of bullshit, and you know it,” Nayeon gritted through clenched teeth and Dahyun was taken aback by how furious she sounded.

She felt a little bad when she caught sight of the puffiness and redness in the girl’s eyes, but this wasn’t even her fault. How could she have known that Chaeyoung would be interrupting something serious by being a horrible spy?

“Hey, go easy on the President. You know she didn’t mean to.”

Jeongyeon put a hand on Satan’s shoulder who didn’t budge but did seem to become less murder inclined than she had been a second ago. Dahyun let out the breath that she had been holding. Her glasses fogged up at the exhale which only served to prove the hellish identity of the girl standing in front of her. The combination of her impaired vision and Nayeon’s gigantic head made it impossible to send her savior a thankful look and she decided that today really wasn’t her day.

“Why do you keep doing this, we’ve already told you that we can tell you what the club is,” Jihyo pointed out at Dahyun’s great affront.

What was she, a charity case? No, she would find out by herself and annoy Nayeon as much as possible while doing it.

“No, no, don’t say anything. I can figure it out on my own,” Dahyun declared with a determined thumbs up to Chaeyoung who responded in kind with a much more vulgar finger.

“Whatever, just get off our dicks,” Nayeon said and Dahyun had forgotten how close they were until she was sent stumbling back by a light tap to her arm.

Wow, she really needed to work on her balance when she went to the gym.

Chaeyoung would have liked that joke. The concept of Dahyun working out would have them laughing for days.

Her best friend was still pinned down by two cuddly Japanese though, so this wasn’t exactly the best time to bring it up. Like she had felt that someone was thinking about her, Sana perked up and left the cuddle pile to go after her second unwilling victim. The blonde wrapped herself around Nayeon and the devil in question begrudgingly accepted the affection. She must really be out of it to allow it in front of Dahyun.

“Nayeonie, be nice and say please.”

Under Sana’s expectant stare, Nayeon gave in and grumbled something that sounded a lot like ‘Pretty please, get off our dicks.’

Dahyun jumped startled by voices suddenly echoing loudly in the direction of the staircase. The ruckus reminded her that she had come here not just to sacrifice her best friend for information, but also to attend to her Class President duties. Students were starting to trickle into the hallways, which meant that she was going to be late. She had a perfect attendance record, and it would not be tarnished by Nayeon who was entirely to blame for everything all the time.

“Ah, Satan, new kids, guide, late, let’s go!” Dahyun spluttered out as she snatched Nayeon out of Sana’s grip and tugged on her arm to get her to follow.

Dahyun heard a chorus of confused farewells while she led Nayeon to where the newbies were supposed to wait for them. After some battling the growing crowd to make their way through, Satan came to her senses and took her arm back.

“What the hell, I thought you said I could skip babysitting duties?” Nayeon asked while rubbing her arm up and down like it hurt. Dahyun knew that it didn’t; she had been consciously gentle about it. No telling what kind of apocalypse she could unleash by hurting the devil.

“Yeaaaah, about that…” Dahyun pushed up her glasses sheepishly, forced to say something now that Nayeon was refusing to move.

“You lied!?”

Dahyun was about to lecture her on the semantics of lying when she was flicked on the forehead. Wonderful, Satan was bringing the whole flicking thing back. Realizing that Dahyun had been left behind as Nayeon stalked forward, she quickly went after her while rubbing at the sore spot on her head. The flicking had been an established tradition after Nayeon found out that she couldn’t get punished for doing it. Apparently, it toed the line between friendly hazing and full on bullying. Nayeon had had the time of her life flicking away after that discovery in freshman year. Dahyun could’ve sworn that she had developed a resistance to it like how bacteria could become resistant to antibiotics. She had personally gone for flicking Satan on her hands because there was so much skin there to work with.

Dahyun spent the remaining of the walk (read power walking) attempting to get revenge by going after said hands, but Nayeon was just too fast. All her attacks were being skillfully dodged. Too concentrated on her mission, she barely noticed all the weird looks they were getting.

What she did notice was that Nayeon seemed to have forgotten all about her earlier troubles. If Dahyun’s reputation had to suffer a little in exchange, well it was a small sacrifice to make.

After all, where was the fun in kicking someone who was already down.

***

Mina prayed that she wasn’t lost. She had gone straight to where the instructions had told her to. She had spent an embarrassingly long time last night studying the floor plans of the building. She was certain that this was the place and the time. Everything was clear and had been specified in her school guide, but she couldn’t help but second guess herself. Before she could build up the courage to knock on the office’s closed door, a girl seemingly materialized out of nowhere and walked up to her.

“Are you a new student?” the girl asked her, keeping a respectable meter between them.

Mina, at a loss for words, nodded eagerly, glad to have been saved from any more self-doubt. This was the right place and the right time; she was right after all. Mina’s first instinct was to put out her hand, but the tall girl had already turned around. She wondered whether being ignored was worse than have someone witness her trying to greet with a handshake. A handshake. What was she thinking? Mina leaned on the wall behind her, keeping an eye on the girl who was obviously not her guide.

She looked foreign, which made sense. Mina had heard of the exchange program when her parents were scouting JYP as a potential high school for her. The girl was standing straight as an arrow, looking all the more elegant next to a slouched Mina. At the realization, she straightened her back in hopes of not appearing like a total slob. The girl was gorgeous too, and Mina couldn’t help but regret not having put on makeup this morning. The last time she had been in school was a while ago, but she didn’t remember any of the girls wearing makeup at the time. It hadn’t even crossed her mind to fix herself up prettily. And here she thought she’d only have to worry about making friends.

After a minute of thick silence, she shifted uncomfortably, unable to maintain the perfect posture any longer. It had been so long since she had danced. It was entirely too disheartening that her previous poise could be lost so easily. She chanced a look at the girl to her right and, as expected, she was staring straight ahead, looking pretty and graceful. Mina would have liked to be socially skilled enough to strike up a conversation and get rid of some of the awkwardness. But she wasn’t, so she wallowed in the awkwardness instead.

What felt like an eternity later, two girls stormed into their secluded corner from the main hallway. The silence was undeniably broken, and spectacularly at that, seeing as the new arrivals were fighting. Or play-fighting. Mina couldn’t quite tell.

“Would you stop being so stubborn and just let me flick you!” the shortest one huffed out as she unsuccessfully lunged at the other girl who only had to put her hands up to get them out of reach.

The hands were obviously the target since the silver haired girl started jumping up to try and get at them.

“Fuck off, you deserved yours, you ass. I did nothing wrong.” The slightly taller one made a sweeping motion with her leg, no doubt aiming to trip the other girl, who surprisingly managed to dodge as if they had done this countless times before. 

“Ok, that is a blatant lie, I could totally refute your ‘I did nothing wrong’ claim. Now that we’ve established that you’re also a liar, we’re even, so let me flick you.”

Well, Mina had been looking for a good distraction and this was it. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she enjoyed the show. She kind of wished that they would never address her and instead keep their attention on each other. Just as she was starting to believe that her wish would come true, the tall girl stepped up to the bickering duo who finally took notice of them. Without acknowledging how weird things had become when silence fell upon them, the tall girl presented her open hands to the silver-haired girl.

“May I?”

Mina was very confused, but somehow the silver-haired girl nodded with a delighted smile like she understood the request. Next thing she knew, the tall girl was raising the other girl in her arms like Simba in Lion King. A triumphant whoop rang out followed by a loud ‘What the fuck?” Apparently, hands had been effectively flicked.

“I got dibs on the Amazon!”

Mina was also presented with her partner, who’s name was concerningly Satan.

This was one strange first morning of school, she’ll give it that.


	2. Go Against the Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Our prey?” Dahyun asked her partner in crime.  
> “Chou Tzuyu,” Chaeyoung said while making a show of reading her notes. Notes that Dahyun knew for a fact were filled with nonsensical scribbles and elaborate unholy doodles, courtesy of Satan.  
> “Our bait?”  
> “Im Nayeon.”  
> “Hotel?”  
> “Trivago.”

It had been two weeks and Mina was still alone.

She was usually good with people when they were forced to hang out with her. She had once proudly told her father that, and he didn’t seem to understand. Her brother had understood. For Mina, it meant that if someone ever seriously gave her a chance, they might just end up liking who she was. It was a sort of reassurance. Nobody ever got close to her because she stubbornly didn’t let them - not because she wasn’t worth the effort.

That was why she had been so dejected when the one person who was supposed to be her person had gone on to ignore her existence. She was supposed to be Mina’s in to the social circles. Her entry point to the art of making friends. Three people had been forced to spend time with her that first day of school, and none of them had payed her any mind. Well, they did, but just the minimal amount required to show her around, not enough to introduce her to anyone. She had sat with only Nayeon, Dahyun and Tzuyu at lunch, so she never got to meet anyone from their group of friends. To make matters worst, they had all gotten along so well, and Mina had been left to wander the sidelines. Nayeon and Dahyun’s bickering had been strangely harmonized by Tzuyu’s presence who, contrary to what her stoicism would suggest, was incredibly funny and entertaining. She would have liked to fault Nayeon for being a less than stellar guide, but Mina could tell that she hadn’t done it on purpose.

They hadn’t been outright rude or anything. The next day, Dahyun had nodded to her during her first class and Tzuyu had wordlessly lent her an eraser during math. When lunch came, Mina had wandered to the cafeteria alone. She had quickly backtracked at the realization that she had no one to sit with. As faith would have it, she ran directly into Nayeon’s group, and by that she meant she collided with Nayeon and was sent flying to the ground while her friends watched. Mina hadn’t been this embarrassed in a long time. So she had no choice but to refuse when Nayeon invited Mina to have lunch with them as she scrambled to get back up. It was obvious that Nayeon wouldn’t have asked had Mina not ran into them, so she grabbed her dropped lunchbox and escaped to the library.

That’s where she was now, sat in a corner having sneaked in her food past the librarian and with her headphones plugged in while a Minecraft Youtube video played in the background. It wasn’t the worst, she always looked forward to going to lunch if only for some alone time with her phone and sandwich. She did admit to being slightly lonely, but she had settled in a relatively comfortable routine. It didn’t matter anyway, it was too humiliating to go back after such a long time and tell Nayeon ‘Hi, I know you offered like a million years ago, but I’m finally ready to make some friends and not eat alone anymore!’

No, she couldn’t do that. Especially since Nayeon was slowly but surely starting to acknowledge her less and less when they passed each other in the halls. Her guide duties probably expired after a week of unsuccessful attempts at trying to connect with the unwilling girl she was supposed to be guiding.

Mina looked out the window with the recomforting sound of a Minecraft playthrough in her ears and wondered whether the rain was putting her in an angsty mood. She sighed and turned back to her food. She almost choked on the bite of sandwich she had taken when she noticed that Tzuyu was sitting in the chair next to hers, reading a book all the while maintaining her perfect posture. Mina hurriedly pulled the headphones out of her ears and tried to swallow her food as to not cough her lungs out. Seemingly unbothered by her reaction, the girl kept on reading as she handed Mina’s own napkin that had been tossed aside back to her. Mina accepted it tentatively and wiped her mouth with it when she was sure that she had securely swallowed the bite and she wasn’t going to do anything disgusting like cough in Tzuyu’s face.

Mina waited an uncomfortably long time for an explanation of Tzuyu’s presence, but it was clear that she wasn’t going to get one without some prompting. She was tempted to either ignore the girl or gather her things and go to another table, but this was her favorite spot in the library. If she surrendered it now, nothing could stop Tzuyu from taking up residence there and stealing the table. So instead, Mina fidgeted for a couple of seconds then cleared her throat to see if she could steal the girl’s attention from the book.

“Ahem, hi, what are you doing?” Mina asked quietly, not forgetting where she was.

Not that she would have been loud anyway.

“Hiding,” Tzuyu said matter-of-factly, not offering anything more.

Mina wasn’t quite sure where to go from there.

She had tried the talking and it hadn’t worked out super well for her, so she went with ignoring Tzuyu instead. She tried her hardest to go back to her lunch and concentrate on the Minecraft playthrough that she had forgotten to pause.

She couldn’t do it. Every time the girl next to her shifted or the rain hit the window a little too hard, Mina was snapped back to the awkwardness of the situation. She wanted to flee. Abandon everything on the table and run. And when she thought things couldn’t get worse, Tzuyu scooted her chair closer to hers and Mina got angry.

Not outwardly angry of course. Mina wasn’t a big fan of confrontation. Inside, she was fuming though. The last two weeks had been hell for her, so her lunch hour at the library became her only safe haven from a school life she had no interest in participating in. Mainly because that same school life didn’t seem to want her in the first place. And here was tall, gorgeous and already popular Chou Tzuyu barging in without any regards for Mina’s safe place or how uncomfortable the girl’s company made her.

“You don’t make sense.”

Mina turned to the girl and glared at her with all her might, hoping it would send the message across. Tzuyu simply stared back, obviously not intimidated in the least. Tzuyu was so close that their knees brushed each time Mina exhaled too deeply. She was stunned by the girl’s outstanding lack of awareness when it came to personal space. Mina still found herself not moving back, unwilling to show weakness in front of Tzuyu. A small part of Mina also felt guilty at how she enjoyed the contact. It was strange because she was both bothered by it and amazed at how long it had been since somebody else her age had touched her. Mina cringed and cursed the rain for evidently throwing her back into her emo phase.

At the sight of Tzuyu looking at her expectantly, Mina figured she had zoned out and missed the one-sided-conversation.

“What?” Mina asked with not nearly enough bite to her tone, even with how justified she thought her anger out to be.

“You don’t make sense,” Tzuyu repeated, probably unaware that Mina had caught that first bit already. “The stories, they all say that you should be interesting.”

Okay, now she was just being rude. Sure, Mina was probably not the most fun person to be around and some might even dub her as ‘boring’. But her not being super interesting didn’t give Tzuyu the right to kick her when she was down.

Instead of telling her all that, her brain, who hated her deeply, made her sound like a broken record.

“…What?”

Tzuyu nodded to her, looking neither troubled by Mina’s offended confusion nor apologetic.

“You’re a new student. You’re pretty, smart and nice. You should fit in. You should’ve made friends and been the talk of the school. But you didn’t and you’re not.” Tzuyu leaned further in and Mina leaned further back. The knee that was now fully pressing on her thigh mimicked how her heart was painfully constricting. “You go against the story. Why is that?”

Mina had no idea what the girl was going on about, but she did know that it made her feel bad. She gathered all her strength and with her hands firmly on Tzuyu’s shoulders, pushed as hard as she could. Mina doubted that it would have been efficient had Tzuyu not let her. Whether she had actually pushed the girl back or Tzuyu had taken the hint and backed off didn’t matter. Mina could finally breathe again and she used her new found strength to get up. Without so much as glancing at the other girl, she started haphazardly gathering her things and shoving them in her bag.

“Why are you leaving?”

Mina didn’t answer her, didn’t even look at her. She zipped up her backpack and walked away so quickly she was practically jogging.

And here she thought she was good with people when they were forced to spend time with her.

Maybe all she was good at was running away.

***

Dahyun was on the hunt. She was stalking the halls with unwavering focus, which was saying something given who she was hunting with. The distractions were endless, but she would persevere until she got what she wanted.

“Our prey?” Dahyun asked her partner in crime.

“Chou Tzuyu,” Chaeyoung said while making a show of reading her notes. Notes that Dahyun knew for a fact were filled with nonsensical scribbles and elaborate unholy doodles, courtesy of Satan.

“Our bait?”

“Im Nayeon.”

“Hotel?”

“Trivago.”

“Wow, how does it feel knowing that you’re the lamest person alive?”

Nayeon was being a nuisance, per usual. The only reason Dahyun had allowed her to tag along was because Tzuyu was weirdly fascinated with the older girl, and they would need that little crush for some grade-A convincing.

“Well, fuck you too.” Chaeyoung’s pout contrasted the harsh words spectacularly.

Nayeon shouldered Dahyun out of the way to walk next to Chaeyoung and pat her head.

“Not you, you’re cool,” Nayeon assured Chaeyoung who looked delighted by the praise.

“Hey, she was a part of this too!” Dahyun whined as she failed to push Nayeon out of the way so she could beat up her best friend for being a traitor.

Satan was unsurprisingly freakishly strong.

“Yes, but the difference is I actually like Chae.”

Nayeon put an arm around Chaeyoung who stuck out her tongue at Dahyun like a child.

Dahyun was about to rack up her brain for a witty response when she was nothing less than tackled to the ground. Weird, she didn’t remember being in the middle of a football field.

It felt fitting that a joke would be the last thing that went through her mind before her whole body started to feel like it was dying. It had happened before, but usually it was because of an asthma attack. Rationally, she knew that the wind had simply been knocked out of her lungs and she would catch her breath soon, it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, reasoning did little to prevent her from panicking. Dahyun’s body’s way of dealing with panic was to completely freeze as was evident by previous experiences. Her creepy immobility was probably the cause of why the three girls standing over her looked beyond freaked out.

“Oh my god, you killed her. She’s dead.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t- I don’t-”

“Damn Myoui, two times in as many weeks. That has to be some kind of record.”

“You okay Dubs?”

Dahyun saw Chaeyoung crouch down next to her and rub her shoulder. Dahyun did a mental check of all her body parts to make sure they were all still rightfully attached. She spent special attention to her ribs, painfully aware of how fragile they were and was relieved to find none of the telltale signs of a break. She bruised like a peach though, so she did predict a bunch of ugly bruises in the coming days. That much was fine, it’s not like anybody would notice anyway. They never did.

“I was-” Dahyun cut herself off, catching her breath as she tapped Chaeyoung’s arm with what she hoped was reassurance. “I was just meditating.”

Chaeyoung chuckled and offered her hand up, which Dahyun accepted. Back on her feet, she could finally face her attacker, who looked in more pain than she was.

“Funny running into you,” Dahyun joked, accompanying the pun with some masterful finger guns.

Mina did not seem amuse, which was a sin in and of itself seeing as Dahyun was hilarious.

“I am so, so sorry. I-I have to go.”

They all looked on helplessly as Mina ran down the hallway and quickly turned the corner out of view.

What a strange girl.

“Who is that? How do you guys know her? Is she single?” Chaeyoung spluttered out, keeping the most important question for last.

“Mina Myoui, she’s the new kid and I don’t know.” Nayeon answered in turn, hands on her hips and glaring at Dahyun like the whole collision had been her fault.

“No, no, the new kid is Tzuyu. Chou Tzuyu, remember her? Tall, hot and likes books. Ring any bells?”

“There were two new kids, you dingus,” Dahyun said with a well placed slap to the back of Chaeyoung’s head who didn’t even flinch. Chaeyoung whispered a very rude ‘weakling’ under her breath.

“Speaking of Tzuyu, she’s in the library. Mina told me while Dahyun was being dramatic.” Dahyun scoffed and was suddenly tugged away from where Satan had said their prey was. “Chae, you go. We’ll be right back; I’ll make sure she’s doesn’t have any permanent brain damage.”

“What? No, Son Chaeyoung don’t leave me with her!” Dahyun called back as she was being dragged away by Satan who was apparently all muscle. No brains, all brawn.

“Ok, see you guys soon!” The traitor yelled, completely ignoring her distress like the bad friend that she was.

This was all Tzuyu’s fault. Ever since the girl got the incredible privilege of having Dahyun as her guide, she started to sneakily get their two groups together. And by that, she meant Nayeon’s ten million friends and Dahyun’s one friend. Dahyun brought to the table a singular Son Chaeyoung, and somehow, the cool kids were still all for the merger.

Dahyun didn’t like it. She was all for making everyone happy, but it was such a big change. It meant that she would have to spend lunch with a lot of people, and then would follow the invites to hang out outside of school. Parties were fine. Dahyun liked parties. She would just flutter around like the social butterfly that she was, greeting everyone she knew (which was _everyone_ ), then slip away when they were too wasted to notice. What if this Chou Tzuyu merger messed with her system? What if people suddenly got the crazy urge to get close to her? What if they started to get insane ideas like wanting to get to know her? This was the last thing Dahyun wanted. Most of the student body had never even called her by her name. She was the President and she needed it to stay that way.

Looking down at Nayeon grasping her shirt like her life depended on it, she realized that the older girl had been weird too lately. She was somehow always around. Dahyun knew it was probably a coincidence, but they had been hanging out all the time, finding a random reason or another to justify it.

As Nayeon opened the bathroom door and pushed her inside, Dahyun figured that she didn’t mind it. Nayeon was a certainty. They were each other’s punching bags. When Dahyun was having a bad day, she’d take it out on Nayeon and vice-versa. It was easy, effortless. She didn’t have to pretend like she cared about Nayeon, because they were supposed to hate each other. They were expected to hate each other.

Dahyun could work with that.

“Take off your shirt.”

Alright, this she couldn’t work with.

“Excuse me?” Dahyun stared at the girl incredulously. Nayeon crossed her arms like a brat and with the raise of an eyebrow waited expectantly. To go this far. Was she this desperate? Satan being a hormonal teenager was not convenient for Dahyun who was already having a bit of a crisis. “Listen, I don’t know what you think- Just because we… Just because of the hint, you can’t-you can’t-”

“Jesus, relax,” Nayeon cut her off while taking a step forward to flick Dahyun on the forehead. “I’m just gonna check to make sure nothing’s broken. You’re standing weird.”

Nayeon gestured to Dahyun leaning all her weight on one side. Catching herself, Dahyun stood up straight, feeling the soreness in her body, but nothing too serious, at least not recently.

“It’s not broken,” Dahyun said confidently, hoping it was enough to get Satan off her back. Nayeon didn’t back off and gave her a smug look that said: ‘I’m the genius doctor in waiting, not you.’ Dahyun sighed and gave in, leaning back on the sink with her hands behind her. “Fine, but you can just feel, no looking.”

Nayeon hummed agreeing to the conditions as she got closer.

“Kinky.”

Dahyun grumbled as she shut her eyes in case the sight of Nayeon made her want to punch the girl by reflex. 

“Deep breath. Any trouble?” Nayeon asked without even touching her.

Dahyun did as she was told and shook her head, getting the urge to tell Satan that she had done that already because she wasn’t an idiot.

“Good.” Then Nayeon was swiftly untucking Dahyun’s shirt from her skirt and she gave herself a mental props for thinking of closing her eyes. She’d be way more embarrassed if she saw Nayeon doing it. Dahyun felt hands being laid on her ribcage, but thankfully it was still above the shirt. “Do it again.”

Dahyun did and breathed a little easier when Nayeon gave a satisfied hum before removing her hands. Anyone touching her like this was bound to make Dahyun nervous. The fact that Nayeon was taking on a faux-professional tone like she was really a doctor made things easier.

She didn’t get much of a reprise seeing as Nayeon went right back at it by slipping her hands under Dahyun’s shirt. Dahyun shivered and the older girl apologized for the cold hands.

“Ironic, isn’t it supposed to be hot in Hell?” Dahyun said, ignoring how hard her heart was beating.

“Yes, which is why it’s interesting that you’re the one who’s burning up.” The comment was delivered absentmindedly as Nayeon palmed Dahyun’s ribcage.

Dahyun didn’t deign that with a response. She didn’t want to accidently let her know how that her hands weren’t that cold. There was something worse than Satan being a hormonal teenager, and that was Dahyun being a hormonal teenager.

Nayeon ended up making Dahyun do a bunch of things like cough and move and tell her if that hurt or that hurt or that hurt. The girl seemed all-knowing, but Dahyun also knew most of these tests because of these wonderful inventions called ‘The Internet” and ‘WebMD’. Still, Dahyun let Nayeon do her thing as she explained why she was doing it and what it meant. Dahyun listened as she took in how comfortable she was because the touching felt so nice and how uncomfortable she was because the touching felt a little too nice.

Finally, Nayeon swiped a finger between two of her ribs and mentioned something about ‘tenderness’ before stepping back. Dahyun chased the warmth unconsciously but caught herself before she could step forward completely. When she raised her head, she realized that it had been so low that her forehead was probably brushing Nayeon’s shoulder. Stupid hormones. Nayeon was right, Dahyun was all gross and sweaty now and she felt her cheeks start to heat up. She mentally shushed her heart, threw out a barely distinguishably ‘Thanks’ and tried to escape, but was stopped by Satan blocking the exit.

“I get that you’re a prude and all, but you’re gonna have to visually check to make sure it doesn’t look all blotchy and gross.”

Nayeon sounded all serious, Dahyun hated that.

“Is that the medical term, Dr. Im?”

“Just do it, you ass,” Nayeon scolded, sounding more and more like a bratty teenager. “And go to an actual doctor if there’s anything.”

“You mean you’re not an actual doctor? I feel so shocked and betrayed,” she said, pulling out all the stops with her award worthy acting.

“Promise me? You were out of breath way too long for that small a fall, but you might’ve just landed weird.” The concern oozing out of Nayeon like blood out of a bad cut was so foreign to Dahyun that she wasn’t sure how to react or what to say. She was usely an expert at easing the tension, but at that moment all she could do was watch as Nayeon gave her forehead the softest flick known to man. “So please just go if you’re hurt.”

Dahyun wanted this to end, she wanted to go back to being a punching bag. Who knew Im Nayeon had so many disgusting emotions? And true to her devilish nature, she was infecting Dahyun with all her misplaced care.

“Of course,” Dahyun lied to settle Nayeon down. She grabbed the older girl’s hand and flicked it back because it was only fair. “Who else is gonna fight against your evil plans if I succumb to my injuries.”

Nayeon snatched back her hand and huffed as she turned her back to Dahyun.

“I change my mind, I hope you perish. Goodbye.”

And with that she was gone.

Dahyun exhaled relieved that as per her suspicions, nothing was broken. It was also a relief that despite her insistence, Nayeon had helped without looking under her shirt. Imagine the scandal if unsuspecting students would have walked in to Im Nayeon feeling up a shirtless Kim Dahyun.

As Dahyun tucked her shirt back in, she mentally prepared to face the next challenge of the day.

Honestly, Dahyun had dealt with a lot of troublemakers in her time as president of the student council. That dealing usually involved enlisting Jihyo’s help who would do the scolding as Dahyun stood behind her and nodded at everything she said.

This time was different though.

She didn’t know the identity of the troublemaker. And even if she did, there was no involving Jihyo in this one. She knew she should be more worried about the text she had received in all of its blackmailing glory. But the request seemed innocent enough that Dahyun could get away with keeping her secrets for a while longer. The message was worded like it was a prank too, and Dahyun would’ve believed it was had it not been for the linked video.

What was scarier was that someone could hack into her phone. She hadn’t shared that particular video to her cloud. Now, Dahyun knew nothing about technology, but she guessed that it would be harder to hack into a phone than it was the cloud. Maybe not. Dahyun didn’t know and should’ve probably cared more. Alas, she cared for little, but either by luck or by explicit information, whoever was blackmailing her had gone after one of the few people she did truly care for.

Dahyun groaned and had a stern stare off with the ceiling.

This really wasn’t her day.

Enough of the pity party, she had a hunt to get back to.

Dahyun pulled up the text message again, before following Nayeon’s example and stalking out of the bathroom.

***

_Kindly get Chou Tzuyu to attend Im Nayeon’s party this Friday September 18 th._

_[Video]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) :)


	3. Pros and Cons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Pros and cons?” Her mother looked at her, and if she was surprised by Mina getting invited to a party, she didn’t let it show.  
> “A lot of cons and practically no pros.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost done with next chapter too!  
> ahaha just kidding :D  
> ...unless?  
> (I decided to cut the chapter in two so the next update should be up soon)

“I just told her that she goes against the story.”

“What does that even mean?”

Dahyun caught the tail-end of the conversation as she finally joined Nayeon and Chaeyoung who turned out to be not completely useless as a search party. Tzuyu was helplessly waving a green lunchbox around as she stood besides the furthest table in the dusty secluded corner of the library where they had all gathered for some jolly hunting. Dahyun only had to take one look at Tzuyu’s wide eyes to come to the conclusion that her status as prey was entirely fitting. The poor girl looked like a cornered animal, or maybe a reprimanded child that was caught doing something they weren’t supposed to do.

Either way, Dahyun was intrigued.

“What’s up?”

Nayeon jumped slightly but composed herself so quickly that Dahyun didn’t get the opportunity to laugh at her. True to her position as ‘The Best Friend’, Chaeyoung wasn’t startled by the sudden arrival.

“We found Tzuyu, but in the 15 minutes that we left her unsupervised, she managed to scare off the future mother of my children.”

At the confused frown, Dahyun decided to spend her weekly good deed on translating for Nayeon.

“Mina is very pretty and Chaeyoung is very gay.”

Nayeon shook her head like a disappointed mother with a sigh rivaling all of the many that she had let out today. Dahyun would have gladly narrated the saga of Chaeyoung’s endless string of crushes had Satan not walked away first to put herself in front of Tzuyu. Dahyun doubted that the giant needed the protection; Tzuyu could probably poke her and Chaeyoung would fall over like a rag doll.

“Alright, you listen here Dumb and Dumber. First of all, don’t treat Tzuyu like a baby. I know she’s cute and I too want to squish her cheeks at all times, but she’s your friend, not a puppy.”

Chaeyoung pouted at that while Dahyun bowed with an apology that resonated too loudly throughout the silence of the library.

“Yes,” Tzuyu agreed, her head peeking out from behind Nayeon’s mom pose.

The barely perceptible smugness in her tone and smile told Dahyun that Tzuyu hadn’t really been upset; yet she was enjoying how Nayeon was scolding on her behalf.

“Second of all,” Nayeon started before pausing to glare at Dahyun who had inadvertently let out a snort at the seriousness in her voice. “Chaeyoung, you literally did not know who Mina was 10 minutes ago. You better not be weird around the poor girl and freak her out, got it?”

After some huffing and puffing from both sides, they finally settled down enough to understand what Tzuyu had been up in arms about. As the story goes, she had tried to engage in some foreign ritual called ‘conversation’ with Myoui Mina and it hadn’t gone so well. The fact that Tzuyu had, of her own volition, began talking to a stranger, piqued Dahyun’s curiosity. Was she faking a crisis so she could get out of going to the party? Was her social awkwardness genuine or was she just making it up to distract them from forcing her to go out?

If Dahyun had to guess, she would say that Chou Tzuyu probably wasn’t that good an actress.

“So, let me get this straight. You basically called her a weirdo because she didn’t fit the stories from your books?”

“Yes,” Tzuyu admitted softly and wow Nayeon was right, Dahyun did want to pinch her cheeks. “I like silence, but she looked so uncomfortable and nervous I thought if I said something to her, it would be better.”

“And _that_ ’s what you went with!?” Chaeyoung said, very passionate in her defense of the future mother of her children.

“I didn’t know what else to talk about,” Tzuyu frowned, clutching in her hands the green lunchbox. “The only time I ever thought about her was when I was reading a book set in high school. I thought it was interesting that as far as new students go, she seemed kinda boring.”

Chaeyoung gasped and Dahyun could practically see the life drain out of her like the souls changing bodies in the Scooby-Doo movie. As dramatic as her best friend was, Dahyun found her to have the right idea. Dahyun could admit that she wasn’t the most compassionate person herself, but she still had the good sense to pretend, a talent obviously not shared by her tall friend. Even to Dahyun, Tzuyu’s words rang a little harsh, yet seeing how troubled the girl was about the whole thing, it had no doubt been less about ill-intent and more about lack of tact.

“You can’t just tell people that Tzuyu,” Nayeon sighed as she patted the girl’s arm.

Dahyun was pretty sure that this was the most grown up Satan had ever sounded. She wondered what made Chou Tzuyu so special that it had Nayeon not acting like her usual spoiled princess self. Dahyun’s eyes fell instinctively on Nayeon who was admonishing Tzuyu quietly while Chaeyoung nodded at everything that was said.

The older girl didn’t look any different as far as Dahyun could tell.

She felt different.

She acted different.

Dahyun had been so caught up in everything that she hadn’t realized just how weird it had been for Nayeon to be all caring and worried in the bathroom. Something had happened to Satan and had turned her into a mushy mess. She was becoming the opposite of what Dahyun wanted her punching bag to be. Nayeon was supposed to be her certainty, a constant reminder that no matter how much things changed, there would always be Satan there to take it out on.

Even Chaeyoung wasn’t that consistent a presence in her life. Not by any means flaky, her best friend simply needed more than what Dahyun could offer her as far as friendships went. Chaeyoung had her own friends, and her own social life, but Dahyun understood that. It sometimes made things easier too, it alleviated the pressure of having to make time in her tight-packed schedule where there was already barely enough time to sleep. Despite that, Dahyun had never felt like she was in risk of losing her friendship with her best friend.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case for her frenemy.

“What?”

She didn’t sound any different either.

But Nayeon _was_ different and Dahyun didn’t like it.

Apparently, her staring had been too intense (maybe a gaze worthy of Debby Ryan), because everyone was staring back now.

“You want to apologize to Mina, right?” Dahyun asked Tzuyu, eager to get out of there as soon as she accomplished her mission. Tzuyu nodded as Chaeyoung’s face went from worried to delighted, anticipating Dahyun’s plan. “You come to Satan’s party Friday and we’ll make sure Mina is there too. It’s also your punishment for running away and hiding from your amazing friends.”

Without waiting for an answer, Dahyun turned on her heels and walked away. She waved at the librarian on her way out, hoping to soothe any damage done by their loud bickering. The lady had looked on the verge of exploding at whoever first came out of the corner, but at the sight of the one and only President Kim Dahyun, the librarian had settled for a tight wave back.

The hallways were starting to get crowded as the lunch hour was winding down to an end. Dahyun proceeded to absentmindedly greet everyone who looked at her, using the other half of her braincells to think of ways to avoid Nayeon. Satan had lost all of her purpose, because without the animosity, Im Nayeon was just someone who was inconveniently way too close to her.

Dahyun remembered that time Chaeyoung had put together a PowerPoint to explain to her what ghosting was and she figured that now was the perfect time to try it out. Nayeon thrived off of attention, and if Dahyun refused to give it to her, the older girl would have no choice but to distance herself to avoid withering like a neglected flower. And if that didn’t work, well she could always take more drastic measures. Nayeon was sensitive, her hard exterior didn’t fool Dahyun one bit.

It shouldn’t be too hard to make Nayeon hate her for real.

***

It was Friday and Mina had no choice but to deal with the invitation that had loomed over her head all week.

**Unknown number**

_hey it’s Dahyun :) there’s a party at Satan’s house Friday and we were wondering if you wanted to come? It would be really cool if you could!_

Mina couldn’t begin to guess who this ‘we’ who wanted her there was exactly or why they had invited her in the first place.

**Dahyun**

_btw Satan is Im Nayeon (idk if you remembered but I think it’s really obvious tat she’s the devil)_

_*that lmao_

_also I think Tzuyu wanted to apologize for scaring you away earlier, sorry about that btw she’s a good kid she just doesn’t have the best way with words_

_anyway I’ll send you the address we’d be super happy to have you so think about it :D_

**Mina**

_Hi Dahyun, thank you for the invite but I already have something planned for that night. I hope you all have a good time though!_

**Dahyun**

_no worries if you change your mind lmk :)_

_hello Mina this is Chaeyoung (: we met when you tackled Dubs! I was the one who thought you might have killed her, remember?_

_I stole Dahyun’s cell because she’s a horrible human being and refuses to give me your number_

_I know you have something Friday, but the party usually goes on pretty late, so if you still want to swing by, I could pick you up_

_Nayeon only lets me use her fancy car because I’m her favorite (:_

The texts had stopped there and Mina never replied. She hoped that Chaeyoung didn’t get in too much trouble with Dahyun for stealing the phone, especially since it had been to get Mina to go to the party. Also, Dahyun’s texting hurt her head while Chaeyoung’s was more bearable to look at, so that was a point in Chaeyoung’s favor. As soon as the invitation had come in, she had shut it down blaming the refusal on some imaginary ‘thing’ she had to do that night. Dahyun hadn’t called her out on the pathetic excuse, even if she hadn’t seemed totally sold on the lie. She would have never considered going before, but guilt was one hell of a motivator. Mina felt incredibly bad about knocking down Dahyun by being an idiot and not looking where she was going. To make matters worse, she had ran away without making sure that she was alright. She had been embarrassed enough as it was when she ran into Nayeon, but at least she had only hurt herself then. Now, she felt so bad that she was thinking about going to a party, which was saying a lot.

Mina sighed drumming her fingers on her stomach as she engaged in a stare off with the ceiling.

“Can I come in and be miserable next to you?”

Mina lifted her head to see her mother standing in the doorway looking painfully exhausted. Mina nodded and her mother walked to the bed before flopping down on it next to her. She watched as her mother’s eyes closed immediately after hitting the bed.

“Work?” Mina asked, already having predicted the answer.

“Yes.” A beat. “School?”

Mina let out another sigh, resuming the drumming on her stomach.

“Yes,” she admitted, only doing so knowing that her mother wouldn’t push.

They stayed laying silently next to each other for a couple of minutes and it made her yearn for some peace and quiet in her mind as well. Mina felt like she owed Dahyun, and by going to the party her debt would be payed. Chaeyoung offering to drive her was also a nice touch. On the other, she really did not want to see Tzuyu again. However, knowing that there was someone in school who didn’t like her was so much worse that it trumped the nervousness that would have usually made her categorically not go.

“I can hear the gears turning all the way over here.”

Mina turned her head to the side to see her mother still with her eyes closed, though obviously not sleeping (unless she was an impressive sleep talker).

This was another invitation, this time to talk about it.

“Are you and dad going out tonight?” Mina said tugging her phone out of her pocket to check the time.

“No, I still have some work, but he was thinking of going to see a movie. You can tag along if you want.”

Going to the movies was one of the few activities she enjoyed enough to go out for. It was always fun to get some food and catch a good or entertainingly bad movie. It would be the perfect excuse for missing out on the party and it would take her mind off of it.

6:27 pm flashed on her phone’s Minecraft wallpaper.

“I was invited to a party,” Mina blurted out and this time her mother opened her eyes.

Mina notoriously did not like parties. She had been to her fair share of parties in her trainee days and rarely had a good time. It was better when it was at a house she knew with people she knew and only a couple of guests.

Somehow, she doubted that Nayeon’s party would be a small friendly gathering.

“Pros and cons?” Her mother looked at her, and if she was surprised by Mina getting invited to a party, she didn’t let it show.

“A lot of cons and practically no pros,” Mina whispered, a little self-conscious after having kept it to herself all week.

Her mother hummed and sat up straight before giving Mina a hand to do the same.

“So many cons and so little pros, yet you’re still debating whether you should go or not? I think that might be your answer,” her mother said, then she leaned down to kiss Mina’s forehead and got up from the bed. “Thanks for the break, I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

Her mother was always vague when it came to giving out advice. Very unlike her father who was sometimes annoyingly straightforward with his opinions. Was she supposed to not go because of the obvious disparity between the amount of cons and pros? Or was she supposed to go since she was still considering it despite the number of downsides? Maybe the beauty of her mother’s words was that Mina could interpret them in her own way.

Like a fortune cookie, only not as fun and not as yummy.

Mina closed her eyes, fiddled with her phone with one hand and her necklace with the other, then took a deep breath.

**Mina**

_Hi, my schedule suddenly cleared up and if you’ll still have me, I’d love to come to the party._

Mina almost included a smiley at the end, but thought better of it. She didn’t want to seem desperate or too friendly. Smiley faces were more of a second month of texting type of occasion. Not that she had had many chances to experience a second month of texting with someone.

**Dahyun**

_heyy wow you’re so professional with your texting it’s cool :0 yay I’m so happy you’re coming I’ll let everyone know! I’ll send you the address in case your parents wanna know but I can pick you up in Satan’s fancy car woahhh_

**Mina**

_Thank you, but I thought that only Chaeyoung could borrow Nayeon’s car?_

**Dahyun**

_nonsense!_

_unrelated but I played Grand Theft Auto once and I was super skilled in the art of stealing cars_

_alrighty see you soon :D_

What had Mina gotten herself into.

***

_Kindly talk to Myoui Mina at the party tonight._

_[Picture]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) :) :)


	4. Kill Two Birds With One Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “She actually told me to tell you that they’re on her bedside table and to come and get them if you can stop being a 'petty bitch’. Her words, not mine. What did you do that was so bad that she was willing to talk to me to tell you off?”
> 
> Dahyun should have known that it wouldn’t be that easy to push Satan out of her life. And here she thought that the ghosting had been going so well.

Dahyun really hadn’t thought this whole ignoring Nayeon thing through.

Honestly, how was she supposed to set up a party and avoid Satan if said party was being held at Satan’s lair. If Dahyun lurked any longer around the Im’s house like a burglar in the making, the neighbours were bound to start asking questions. She was too pretty to go to prison.

On the other hand, if the cops came she could always sacrifice Nayeon to them and kill two birds with one stone.

Dahyun looked around and immediately chided herself for thinking that the neighbours would notice. This was a gated community after all, and the houses were so huge they were practically mansions. And with that came the absurdly high number of acres of land which meant that the nearest house was far away enough not to hear a peep from rowdy teenagers blasting music. It was unfortunate that the perfect place to throw her weekly parties was at her sworn enemy’s house. Dahyun had probably spent more time there in the last couple of years than she had at her own house.

“How long are you just gonna stand there?”

Dahyun let out what could only be described as a squeal and she would have cringed at the sound was she not too busy clutching her chest to prevent her heart from jumping out of it.

“You have to stop doing that! What is wrong with you!?” Dahyun bent over to try and catch her breath as she swatted blindly to punish the person responsible.

“One day,” Seoyeon said, easily dodging Dahyun’s attacks. “One day, I’ll scare you enough that I’ll have the proof that you can curse.”

There had to be some kind of genetic mutation in the Im DNA that made them intolerable to Dahyun. The ‘Annoying Dahyun is my hobby’ gene ran deep within that family, she was certain of it. Standing back up, Dahyun attempted to gain back some of her composure which was hard when Seoyeon was so smug about everything all the time.

“Impossible, I am physically unable to swear. Swearing is for heathens like you and your sister,” Dahyun said to an unbothered Seoyeon who reached in her pocket without listening.

Dahyun crossed her arms and seriously considered kicking Seoyeon in the shins so she wouldn’t have to look up at the girl anymore.

“Is this what you were looking for?” Seoyeon asked as she finally took out something from her pocket.

Seoyeon was waving a shiny key in front of Dahyun’s face, the same key that she had just spent 15 minutes searching for like a lunatic. Dahyun groaned and immediately launched after the younger girl who was already running away with all the glee of a mischievous kid. Dahyun’s tiny primitive brain was so caught up in the chase that she completely forgot why she hadn’t just rang the bell instead of going for the spare key. She was quickly reminded of why when the spawn of Satan came running at her as soon as she crossed the threshold. With her second scream of the day, Dahyun went down into a ball and prayed that playing dead wasn’t just a strategy for bears.

“Fuck yeah, get her Cerberus!”

The nerve of that girl to be cheering that monster on as he was torturing Dahyun. Evidently, playing dead wasn’t an efficient enough strategy, because Cerberus continued to slobber all over her up until Seoyeon got bored and picked the little demon up. Dahyun exhaled for what felt like the first time in minutes and carefully sat up.

Seoyeon was already praising Cerberus with an assorted chorus of ‘You’re such a good boy’. Dahyun huffed but realized her mistake when the hound perked up to look at her excitedly. Thankfully, Seoyeon kept him from running up to her by smothering him with some more undeserved affection.

“He’s a year old, why hasn’t he calmed down yet?” Dahyun whined, taking the opportunity to get up while the little demon was distracted.

The younger girl whispered something about ‘Having a piece of bread and maybe he’ll calm down’, which Dahyun guessed was a reference that only Chaeyoung would get.

Seoyeon adopting a dog was one of the things that Dahyun had been the most passionate about last year. It had led to intense debates between the two of them as Nayeon watched them arguing for her own amusement. The one person that Nayeon despised more than Dahyun was her sister, so them fighting had been Heaven for the older girl. Now, one would assume that Dahyun had no say in the matter, but Seoyeon had been the one to bring it up, giving her a part in the decision. Dahyun could only imagine that it had been to get a rise out of her, the Im siblings did so enjoy arguing with her. Mostly, Dahyun had been against it for selfish reasons, those reasons being that all pets were evil, especially dogs.

But it wasn’t just that either. 

Other than Seoyeon who surprisingly was the one who seemed to have her stuff together the most, the rest of the Im family was in no position to take care of pets. Nayeon was barely able to take care of herself, never mind a puppy. Mr. Im was a doctor and worked nights, so he slept the rest of the time or whatever it was that he did all day confined in his room. And Mrs. Im…well Dahyun didn’t really know other than she was alive and out of the picture. Nobody had ever told her more than that and Dahyun had never asked.

“I’m taking Cerberus to my room so he won’t have to listen to your slander anymore,” Seoyeon said standing with the little demon cradled in her arms like a baby.

She rolled her eyes at the dog who was definitely too big and evil to be treated like a child. Dahyun had named him Cerberus for a good reason. He responded to her death stare by panting and wagging his tail happily, maybe expecting more pets.

Dahyun took Seoyeon finally beginning to leave for her room as her cue to get started with the preparations for the party. She was late enough that she didn’t have time for a treasure hunt to find Nayeon’s car keys like she usually did, so she stopped Seoyeon before she could go up the stairs.

“Hey, where did she hide her car keys this time? I’m running a little late, but I can give you a lift to your friend’s house as a bribe,” Dahyun added to sweeten the deal in case Seoyeon decided to be stingy.

“You’re such a great person, I’m touched.” Seoyeon’s sarcasm was somewhat dulled by the giggle she let out in response to Cerberus licking her face much to Dahyun’s disgust. “She actually told me to tell you that they’re on her bedside table and to come and get them if you can stop being a ‘petty bitch’. Her words, not mine. What did you do that was so bad that she was willing to talk to me to tell you off?”

Dahyun should have known that it wouldn’t be that easy to push Satan out of her life. And here she thought that the ghosting had been going so well.

“Nothing, I’m innocent. I’ll give you anything you want if you go get them for me,” Dahyun pleaded, ready and willing to do anything to not have to go in there.

Seoyeon was quick to scoff at her, “Yeah, I think the fuck not. She’s in there right now stoned out of her mind, I go in her room and she murders me on sight. Unless you can give me back my life, I’m gonna go ahead and say hard pass.”

The younger girl was already going up the stairs again and Dahyun had to do something because she was her only hope (Obi-Wan Kenobi). Dahyun was desperate and had close to zero pride, so she was already on her knees begging when she called out to the retreating girl.

“Wait! Please, I’ll do anything. You’re her family, you have a chance to get out of there alive. I’m doomed if I do it. Pretty please, I’ll stop being embarrassing if you go get the keys for me.”

Dahyun knew that the way to convince Seoyeon was to embarrass her so much that she would have to cave in to make it stop.

“Oh my god, get your dramatic ass up. Don’t be a wuss and go in there, we both know that she has a bigger chance of making out with you than kicking your ass. So, you go do that, and I’ll go in my room, put my earphones in and pretend that nothing’s going on so I don’t barf.”

And with that she was gone, taking the stairs two at a time which left Dahyun alone on her knees like an idiot with only herself to embarrass. Dahyun huffed and got up, angry that all her plans were falling apart and that that coward was leaving her to fend for herself against Satan. Dahyun tried not to think too hard about what else the younger girl had said, because the fact that Seoyeon _knew_ was traumatizing enough as it was.

“I don’t deserve this, I did my good deed this week,” Dahyun grumbled to herself as she prepared for the inevitable and trailed up the stairs, dragging her feet as she did.

It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t have a car. The Im household had a billion vehicles and yet, Nayeon had always refused for her to use any of them. Not officially at least, there was this unspoken understanding that if Dahyun could find the keys to the Audi, she could drive the car.

(Mr. Im had once offered to give her the double of Nayeon’s car keys, and even the keys to a Jeep that they rarely drove, but Dahyun had declined. She might not have any pride, but she wouldn’t stand for becoming a charity case.)

“Dahyun!” The shout revived some of her spirit and she hoped that Seoyeon had changed her mind. “Don’t forget to close the door after so Cerberus can’t go in.”

“I know!” Dahyun screamed back, disappointed by the false hope.

Dahyun settled on opening the door to Satan’s room like she would rip off a band-aid, which meant deliberately slow and suffering the whole way through. The large room surprisingly did not smell that bad, and Dahyun soon found out why when she felt herself shiver at the cold. The window was wide open and the wind was blowing freely through it. Dahyun sighed and was delighted to see Nayeon fast asleep in her bed with headphones in which doubled her safety. Not only would Satan need to wake up, but she would also need to hear her through her music, so when Dahyun began walking towards the bed, her steps were a little lighter.

She spared a glance at Nayeon when she carefully approached the bedside table. She didn’t look peaceful like Dahyun would have expected. She seemed exhausted, apparent by the dark circles under her eyes. Her nose was scrunched up even in her sleep and Dahyun got the urge to take a picture.

For blackmail purposes, of course.

There was no way that Nayeon was this torn up over Dahyun not talking to her. Sometimes they would go days without properly interacting with each other. Sure, Friday would come and they’d be in the same vicinity, but they wouldn’t necessarily make friendship bracelets and braid each other’s hair. Nayeon would hide her car keys, Dahyun would search for them while texting her to remind her how horrible she was, then Satan would reimburse her for what she had bought for the party and voila! They were like unwilling business partners who worked well together despite not getting along.

(Nayeon never asked why Dahyun had claimed the guest room in her basement or why she almost always stayed there until she had to go home Saturday night for church the next day. Nayeon never asked, just pretended that it annoyed her, then complained that it was inconvenient if Dahyun ended up leaving early because she couldn’t cook for her as payment. Nayeon never asked, she just let her. Dahyun had never asked her anything either.)

The car keys were sitting prettily on the bedside table, waiting to be picked up, so Dahyun did.

Then Dahyun made a mistake. She always makes mistakes.

It was cold, and there was snot running down sleeping Satan’s nose, which was almost as gross as Satan’s face. Dahyun was feeling benevolent, so she went to close the window and she froze, not in response to the cold, but because she connected too strongly with the table as she finished getting it shut. All the mess on the desk crashed down like a poorly constructed house of cards. Dahyun stilled because nature hated her and that’s what it had given her as a defense mechanism. She flinched when the bed creaked and Dahyun let her eyes close, wishing her feet would wake too and cooperate.

When a hand came up to hers to take the keys, Dahyun let it happen.

“You’re ignoring me.” Nayeon’s breath hit Dahyun’s neck.

Dahyun shivered, the warmth of Nayeon standing so close a startling contrast to the cold air.

“I’m not, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” Dahyun pointed out, relaxing a little, knowing that whatever nervousness that was left wasn’t due to fear of being hurt, but to fear of being a hormonal teenager and acting on it. “Check-mate.”

Nayeon didn’t laugh nor did she scoff. She didn’t seem amused or annoyed. She didn’t seem much of anything.

Dahyun felt a weight press on her back and what was no doubt Satan’s gigantic head falling against hers.

Ok, so maybe she wasn’t nothing. Maybe she was a little tired, a little high and a little hor- a little bit of a hormonal teenager.

“Tell me why, and you can have the keys,” Nayeon mumbled, lips moving against Dahyun’s hair.

Hands settled on either side of Dahyun, and she felt her resolve crumble.

Nayeon was always like this when she got high, which according to her, was only on Fridays after school. Dahyun had never witness anything that would say any different, so she was inclined to believe her. It had gotten worse ever since the ‘Hint Incident’. Satan had been flirty and clingy before, but would have never done anything more had Dahyun not indulged her that one time. But then one time became two, two became three and eventually it became a habit that was far too hard to break.

It was why Dahyun didn’t completely fault herself when she leaned back instinctively or when her hands fell on Nayeon’s or when her head tilted to the left of its own accord. Dahyun felt hair tickle her right ear before a sloppy kiss was dropped on the juncture between her neck and her shoulder.

“You were all gross earlier, you better not get any snot on me,” Dahyun said, threat loosing all meaning when teeth softly grazed her skin and her breath hitched.

Again, Nayeon didn’t react like she normally would, and Dahyun found herself chasing the lips that were leaving her neck too early.

“Tell me why,” Nayeon repeated, sounding less hazy this time.

The cold edges of the key dug into Dahyun’s palm when Nayeon turned her hand upwards in hers, a reminder of the reward.

Dahyun didn’t want to tell her why. If she kept pushing it, then Dahyun would have to hurt her and maybe she’d use the reason why she was ignoring her to do it. Dahyun wouldn’t care if someone ditched her because she had become useless to them, but Nayeon definitely would.

Satan was too much of a softie.

Dahyun sighed and clutched the hand that was holding the key harder, but Nayeon had anticipated it and did the same so she wouldn’t snatch up the keys and run. Dahyun pouted at the unfair disadvantage of not having ginormous hands.

“I’ll tell you why if you tell me what happened.”

Dahyun didn’t have to elaborate, something had obviously happened and they both knew it. It had nothing to do with Dahyun, so she was certain that Nayeon would never answer and then they’d be at an impasse. Nayeon slipped her hands from under hers and used them to nudge at her side so Dahyun would turn around. Dahyun did as she was told. She attempted to focus all her energy on Nayeon’s red eyes because they were funny enough for her attention not to stray to more dangerous body parts, such as her lips. Dahyun didn’t know where to put her hands so she tucked them behind her back and waited.

“I’ll tell you what happened if you tell me why you never go home.”

This. This was exactly what Dahyun was afraid of. Getting too close. Either Nayeon didn’t need her as a punching bag anymore or for some reason stopped being constantly angry, but Dahyun didn’t need this. She didn’t want this. It was too much and it messed with her plan and her routine. She didn’t know what she was thinking, coming here knowing how Nayeon was when she got high.

“I don’t have a home,” Dahyun said, hoping to make Nayeon uncomfortable enough that she would never ask anything personal ever again.

She pushed the older girl back and slipped past her with the intent of storming out of there. Maybe adding a well placed slamming of the door to enhance the drama. She didn’t need the car, she would just call Chaeyoung and make her come early so she would take Nayeon’s keys.

“Wait, just take the fucking car keys.” Dahyun had been fully prepared to ignore Nayeon for the rest of her life, but the offer was too good to pass up. She turned back around in time to catch the keys that were thrown at her. At least, she attempted to catch them, but her whole cool departure was ruined by her crappy catching skills and she found herself on the floor, scrambling to recover the keys. “You’re right, let’s not talk to each other ever again. You go be miserable all alone with your problems, and I’ll have my friends to help me. Close the door on your way out so Cerberus can’t come in.”

Satan didn’t need to tell her twice.

She thought about leaving the door open just to spite her, but Dahyun thought it too cruel for the little demon, so she slammed the door shut instead.

This was good, this was exactly what she had wanted.

They would hate each other again, but it wasn’t irreparable. They’d get back to being comfortable eventually, but this time Dahyun wouldn’t let her come too close and the cycle would repeat. It was even better than losing her completely.

She had assumed that she didn’t need Nayeon anymore, but maybe that wasn’t really true.

Maybe now she just needed her differently.

***

Kim Dahyun was a miracle worker.

Honestly, Mina had been dreading the drive to the party – readily prepared to suffer through awkward small talk alternating with oppressing silence. It had kicked off with more embarrassment than was necessary when her father decided to act like he was never going to see his daughter again. He had stood in the doorway waving at her like a proud parent seeing their child off to college as Mina waddled over to the car. Her face had heated up quickly as her mother tried in vain to drag her father back inside the house, but the damage was already done. With her head down and a blush probably worthy of a tomato, Mina opened the passenger door only to be greeted with Kim Dahyun’s waving that rivaled her father’s. Dahyun’s enthusiastic response seemed to further invigorate Mina’s father’s embarrassing behavior and the two spent a good 20 seconds enthusiastically waving at each other.

“Your dad seems cool,” Dahyun commented after finally deciding to have mercy on her and driving off.

Mina looked up at her properly for the first time ever since getting in the car. The girl’s hair was neatly styled to the side and she was wearing a flowery summer dress that was a little out of place in the brisky autumn air. The jean jacket thrown over it was ripped in some places and Mina recalled that being a popular fashion trend lately.

She felt woefully underdressed.

She might have traded her hoodie and shorts for a nicer sweater and jeans, but apparently that was hardly sufficient.

“He’s really not,” Mina whispered back, still reeling from the embarrassment.

Dahyun chuckled and Mina could definitely tell her father would like the silver-haired girl, if that wasn’t apparent already with the whole waving spectacle earlier.

“So, how come you’re considered an exchange student? Your Korean is better than mine, which is saying a lot because, ya’ know, I’m just that good.” The girl flipped her hair without taking her eyes off the road. Even while boasting, she appeared to be putting on a show. Mina wasn’t sure she could take anything Dahyun said seriously. “You must’ve lived here before, right?” she added offhandedly.

Mina began drumming her fingers on the phone she had clutched in her hands.

“My parents are Japanese, but we alternate between here and Japan for my mom’s work,” Mina supplied, hoping the silver-haired girl wouldn’t push for more information. It wasn’t technically a lie, but Mina still felt the urge to justify herself. “We came back to Korea this year and I wanted to try out a new school.”

Dahyun smiled seemingly delighted with the answer.

“Ah, well that explains it! Maybe you can teach a thing or two to Tzuyu about being respectful in Korean. That kid is way too rude to me, her amazingly wise senior, then expects to get away with it by acting cute,” Dahyun said loudly, her finger raised as if she was deeply offended.

Mina chuckled since she had no trouble imagining the taller girl doing that.

“I don’t act cute.”

Chou Tzuyu truly wasn’t good for Mina’s heart and jump scares in cars were the worst.

The one person who it was crucial not to scare was the driver, and thankfully Dahyun wasn’t phased by the sudden words.

“Welcome! Are you ready to join us and say hi instead of lurking in the back like a creep?” Dahyun asked cheerfully and Mina saw Tzuyu’s eyes narrow while purposely avoiding hers.

“No, I hate you.” Dahyun ignored Tzuyu to give Mina a look that said ‘See what I mean?’ Mina nodded shyly, still taken aback by the fact that there was someone else in the car this whole time.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go back to my conversation with the only friend who appreciates me.” Mina took that as her cue to turn back in her seat to face forward and try to phase out the unexpected presence of the taller girl. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. I’m already an expert at speaking Japanese. It’s true, you can even ask Minatozaki Sana at the party!”

Mina was glad for Dahyun’s outstanding friendliness, she had a real talent for making people comfortable, if her own experience with the smaller girl was anything to go by. Mina was slightly jealous of how well Dahyun could make the conversation flow.

Dahyun continued to talk about how her Japanese was amazing according to this Minatozaki Sana, despite suspiciously not volunteering to demonstrate for Mina. Tzuyu maintained that Sana just pretended because she had a crush on Dahyun, a statement that Dahyun neither confirmed nor denied.

Some time into the drive, while Dahyun was busy carrying the conversation for the three of them, Tzuyu leaned forward and Mina tensed, anticipating some kind of reprimand for some reason. The Taiwanese made her nervous - first impressions were hard to break.

“Hi,” Tzuyu simply whispered and Mina quickly squeaked out a ‘Hi’ back, hoping it would end the uncomfortable exchange. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Mina answered, cringing at herself when she saw Dahyun looking at them.

“Tzuyu, that’s a horrible apology. To make up for making me and poor Mina go through that you’re gonna have to be at her beck and call for the entirety of the party.”

Dahyun didn’t wait for a response and just jumped to another subject, this time talking about how wonderful it would be if Mina could tutor Tzuyu in the art of having manners. Tzuyu groaned and fell back into her seat while Mina laughed awkwardly and wished that, for all her social prowess, Dahyun would take the hint and leave the apology as it was.

It promised to be an interesting night.

That was if Mina didn’t end up losing her courage halfway through and running away.

***

_Kindly read all the letters to Kim Dahyun before Monday September 21 st._

_[PDF]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) :) :) :)


	5. A Kind of Incentive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No, leave her alone,” Tzuyu said categorically as she grabbed Chaeyoung’s arm and hoisted her up and off the couch with all the ease of a pile of feathers.  
> “Whyyyy, I haven’t even done anything yet,” Chaeyoung whined while being dragged away by the taller girl. When it was clear that resisting was futile, Chaeyoung turned one last time towards a baffled Mina and waved her goodbye. “See ya’ later, enjoy the party!”  
> Dahyun was right – Chou Tzuyu was very rude.

Mina watched helplessly as Dahyun left her and Tzuyu alone to get them drinks.

Then proceeded to get even more discouraged when the silver-haired girl gradually forgot why she had gotten up with each new person she greeted.

Dahyun never made it to the kitchen; she was reeled in by two girls that Mina remembered being from Nayeon’s group of friends.

Mina sighed and slouched on herself already regretting coming to the party. She glanced to the side at Tzuyu who occupied the seat on the couch next to her and immediately straightened up. If anything, Tzuyu was good for her back seeing as Mina always ended up being self-conscious and copying the girl’s perfect posture. Tzuyu was tapping away at her phone and Mina wished she could do the same, but she didn’t exactly have someone to text. She wouldn’t risk texting her parents, lest Tzuyu happened to see it. Mina was pretty sure she’d pass away from the embarrassment right then and there.

A minute of uncomfortable silence passed, and one minute soon became two.

Mina abandoned the idea of either herself or Tzuyu speaking up and began looking for someone she knew in the crowded living room. Dahyun was still animatedly chatting with the two girls that had ensnared her in the first place. Nayeon was nowhere to be seen, despite this being her party. Finally, she recognized a small girl who Mina recalled was the one that had taken Dahyun’s phone to get her to attend the party.

Mina’s staring must have been a tad too intense, because Chaeyoung suddenly turned around to look directly at her and sent an award-winning smile her way. Strange reaction, if this had been Mina she would have been freaked out by the staring and would’ve run to hide in the bathroom. To make matters weirder, Chaeyoung began to happily walk towards her, Tzuyu and the couch of outstanding awkwardness. Realizing that the girl was probably coming over for Tzuyu, Mina quickly lowered her eyes and fidgeted with her phone in order to give them a semblance of privacy.

Mina felt the couch dip when Chaeyoung plopped herself down right between her and Tzuyu which made her notice how far apart they had been sitting.

“Hey, Mina.” Startled by the mention of her name, Mina raised her head only to find Chaeyoung already looking at her. Mina nodded at her, not sure she could make her voice sound stable if she greeted vocally. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you, wanna go make ourselves a drink?”

Mina was about to gratefully accept since Chaeyoung seemed nice and she would effectively be saving her from Tzuyu, but the same girl she was trying to escape interrupted her response.

“No, leave her alone,” Tzuyu said categorically as she grabbed Chaeyoung’s arm and hoisted her up and off the couch with all the ease of a pile of feathers.

“Whyyyy, I haven’t even done anything yet,” Chaeyoung whined while being dragged away by the taller girl. When it was clear that resisting was futile, Chaeyoung turned one last time towards a baffled Mina and waved her goodbye. “See ya’ later, enjoy the party!”

Dahyun was right – Chou Tzuyu was very rude.

Mina frowned at Chaeyoung being dragged away into the sea of people and out of sight.

Did Tzuyu not want her friends to talk to Mina? It hadn’t taken a lot to put together that Tzuyu didn’t exactly like her, but to force others not to spend time with her was a little much. Mina sat back dejected into the otherwise comfortable cushions, no longer being held to the infuriating standard of standing straight.

This party hadn’t been a good idea, she didn’t know what she was thinking coming here.

Mina unlocked her phone and composed a text telling her father to pick her up.

“You’re Mina right?” A voice she had never heard asked her.

Looking up for what felt like the hundredth time that night, Mina saw a girl other than the two that were talking to Dhayun earlier, yet she still placed her as one of Nayeon’s friends.

“Yes,” she answered, finger hovering over the send button on her phone.

“Great, I’m Jihyo, nice to meet you. Do you mind if I sit here?” Jihyo gestured to the empty place next to her on the couch and Mina nodded, not sure what else to do.

“Dahyun invited me,” Mina blurted out as soon as Jihyo sat down, wanting to justify her presence.

“Prez invited you?” Jihyo mused as she looked towards the crowd. Apparently, she had also not been in the know, and Mina was seriously starting to consider that she was being pranked. Mina followed Jihyo’s gaze and her eyes fell on Dahyun who had moved on to a new group of people and was laughing her heart out. “And I’m guessing she left you alone to attend to her hosting duties.” Jihyo’s gaze hardened and Mina felt bad for having, despite herself, thrown Dahyun under the bus.

“Oh no, it’s fine! She didn’t leave me alone, I was with Tzuyu,” Mina insisted, gesturing in the vague direction of where Tzuyu had gone off to. Jihyo finally put an end to her death stare in favor of looking back at Mina with an understanding smile on her lips.

“She left you with Tzuyu, who probably ditched you for Chaeyoung.”

Wow, Jihyo really knew her friends.

Mina nodded sheepishly, hoping that the admission wouldn’t make Jihyo feel like she had to hang out with her out of pity. Not wanting Jihyo to find her uninteresting like Tzuyu had, Mina tried to take inspiration from Dhayun’s book and changed the subject to carry on the conversation.

“You said that Dahyun was hosting,” Mina began and Jihyo nodded for her to continue, “But I thought that this was Nayeon’s house.”

At the mention of Nayeon, Jihyo looked out into the growing crowd again as if she’d just taken notice of her absence.

“It is, but Nayeon never hosts. She’s just the place and the money. Prez is the one who takes care of everything,” Jihyo said, seemingly bothered by Nayeon not being there.

“Ah…that makes sense.”

Mina facepalmed mentally because that truly made zero ounce of sense and now she had managed to lose Jihyo’s interest in a record time of 30 seconds. Jihyo’s eyes kept roaming around the room as if she was still looking for Nayeon and Mina was at a loss.

Maybe she should open with a joke next time.

Her phone had locked by itself, so she put in her passcode and her screen lit up to her unsent message – there was her out if she wanted it.

“Sorry, I’m usually not this distracted, I promise. It’s just that…” Jihyo paused, as if she was pondering if she should share her worries with a complete stranger. The girl ended up fishing her phone out of her pocket and also unlocking it before showing it to Mina. “Did you send this?”

Mina instinctively reached for the phone, but Jihyo snatched it back at lighting speed before she could.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. Force of habit,” Mina explained, pulling back her hands and raising them in plea of her innocence.

Jihyo shook her head as if she’d surprised herself with her own reaction.

“It’s okay, just don’t scroll down,” Jihyo warned firmly, while still bringing it back closer to Mina so she could see.

Mina leaned in carefully so she wouldn’t touch the phone at all.

**Unknown**

_Kindly talk to Myoui Mina at the party tonight._

Mina wasn’t able to fully compute what was written in the text at first, but when she understood, she jumped back from the phone as if it had burned her.

“No, no, no, I didn’t send you that. I would never do that, it’s not me. I wasn’t supposed to come tonight, I don’t even know who- who you are! I can- I can show you my phone, my number, I-”

A hand on her knee stopped her from rambling on any further.

“Mina, I believe you. I just needed to make sure. When I saw you talking to Chaeyoung, I didn’t know what to think,” Jihyo said softly and Mina had to strain her ears to hear her because the music was getting louder as the party went on.

“I don’t understand, who would- why-” Jihyo took back her hand and scootched closer to Mina looking around as if someone was listening to them. “What does Chaeyoung have to do with this?” Mina settled on asking.

“This wasn’t like a fun little suggestion someone sent me about talking to you. It also came with, eh, well with an incentive.” Jihyo’s voice was hushed, so Mina leaned in to hear her better.

“What… what kind of incentive?”

Jihyo looked uncomfortable and she coughed to clear her throat.

“A sort of- A kind of…A naked picture type of incentive.”

“What!?”

Jihyo shushed her hurriedly and glanced worriedly around but no one was paying attention to them or the outburst.

“It’s not mine. It’s not me, which is exactly the problem,” Jihyo said, burying her head into her hands and Mina wondered whether she was only telling her this because she had no else to tell. Jihyo peeked at Mina behind her fingers. Other than the deep blush covering Mina’s face, she probably looked put together enough for Jihyo to continue. “It’s Chaeyoung,” Jihyo whisepered almost horrified.

Mina choked on her own saliva and started coughing her lungs out while Jihyo patted her back. Mina apologized in between coughs.

“Yeah, imagine how I reacted,” Jihyo sighed as if they were having a totally normal conversation about the regrettable increases in gas prices. Mina was eventually able to open her eyes again, but as soon as their eyes locked, all hell broke loose.

They burst out laughing, both trying to hold it back in vain. Mina could hear Jihyo’s loud voice while the whole couch was shaking because they were laughing too hard. With clutched sides and tears in the corner of her eyes, Mina’s laughter finally started to die down, as did Jihyo’s. Mina was still impossibly confused, but on the bright side, she could not for the life of her remember the last time she had laughed this much.

“I’m not sure I understand, but I’m guessing we shouldn’t be laughing,” Mina noted breathlessly, exhausted from all the emotions as she became one with the couch.

“Yeah, it’s not good,” Jihyo admitted, sitting back up with a tight grip on her phone as if it was in danger of growing legs and running away. “I mean, there was no outright threat, but the implication was there. If this gets released, that’s already really bad for Chaeyoung. If it gets somehow released under my name, that’s worse, because I’m 18 and she’s a minor. Now, I’m no expert in law, but that feels serious enough for me not to take it lightly or ignore it.”

Mina felt like a major problem was thrust upon her and she was helplessly watching it pass by. She hadn’t even thought of the legal implications of that…naked picture as Jihyo had so elegantly put it.

“Who do you think did it? Could Chaeyoung have sent it to you as a prank?”

“No way, she’s almost as private about her life as Prez is, which is saying a lot.” Mina didn’t know what to say to that, so she kept mum. Jihyo didn’t hold how useless she was against her. Instead, she proceeded to share with Mina a plan that had no doubt been festering in her mind ever since receiving the text. “I need your help. How would you feel about joining Eighteen’s Club?”

Mina agreed immediately under the pretense of justice. Mostly though she was blinded by her ambition of making a friend.

Mina listened to Jihyo’s plan with only one question in mind.

What the hell was an Eighteen’s Club?

***

Dahyun was counting down the minutes until it would be socially acceptable for her to leave.

The biggest challenge of the night had already passed, with Sana and Momo only pestering her for a little while before excusing themselves to go get some more alcohol. Dahyun hadn’t yet registered the farewell kisses to her cheeks that they were already gone. She didn’t even get time to ask Sana to go tell Mina that Dahyun was indeed a genius who had quickly mastered the Japanese language.

Speaking of, she had kind of totally forgotten about Mina and Dahyun looked back at the couch to see if the girl was still where she had left her. Fortunately, Dahyun having the attention span of a goldfish didn’t have negative consequences seeing as Mina was currently chatting animatedly with Jihyo. Honestly, Park Jihyo was amazing and if Dahyun hadn’t been tied to a religion already, she would have created a Church whose sole purpose was the worship of God Jihyo.

Dahyun figured that Jihyo’s presence absolved her of having to keep Mina company, so the only loose ends left to be tied became Tzuyu and Chaeyoung. Upon noticing Tzuyu’s absence from the couch, she guessed that the two were together. Dahyun hoped that they weren’t _together_ together, because if she was subjugated to the sight of her friends making out, she would have to gouge her eyes out and no one wanted to see that. Too much of a downer – this was a Kim Dahyun certified party after all, and gore was not on the menu.

Dahyun couldn’t wait to dip and go to her room. The keyboard in the guest room was waiting for her downstairs and its company was way more enjoyable than most of the party’s attendees. With that thought in mind, Dahyun started practically skipping up to people to ask them if they’d seen Chaeyoung and Tzuyu. The lack of information didn’t deter her and she decided to check the bathroom. Once upstairs, she settled on simply shooting them a text, not desperate enough to call yet. It would probably be faster and that way she wouldn’t risk walking in on them doing anything too unholy.

She was just done sending the messages filled with delightful emojis when her phone was knocked out of her hands. Dahyun could only gape at it as it was sent flying to the ground and she swore she heard it crack.

“What the fuck is this?” Nayeon’s angry voice echoed by bouncing off of the walls in the empty hallway.

Dahyun didn’t take her eyes off of the floor, even when another phone (a bigger, fancier and pricier one) was thrust at her chest.

“Oh no, no, no, please don’t be broken. Please,” Dahyun pleaded softly, ignoring the screen that was being waved under her nose. She kneeled down to grab it and prayed that it was okay.

It wasn’t. As soon as she turned it over, she knew. The screen was completely shattered. She had been meaning to get a new case after discovering that the one she had bought had edges that weren’t elevated enough to cover the screen. But of course, she hadn’t, because nothing was ever pressing until it was, and by then it was too late.

“Hey, I’m talking to you! Who told you about the letters?”

Dahyun ignored her, but didn’t dare to stand up again. She felt a burning prickle in the corner of her eyes and she shut them willing the tears back in. Dahyun couldn’t remember the last time she had cried in front of someone and she couldn’t believe that she was about to do it in front of Satan. Gluing close her tear ducts sounded like a less painful experience than that.

“I’m so dead,” Dahyun whispered to herself, already coming up with about a thousand excuses in her head for the broken phone.

Feeling a sniffle coming on, she shoved the phone in her jacket and cradled her head in her hands. Only the screen was cracked and the phone still lit up. There had to be a way to bypass her father and have it fixed. Yes, Dahyun would sacrifice a few clubs and get a job. She could do that, it would be fine. Her father would never have to know. Once she started working, she’d rack up enough money to pay for the repairs, then she’d join the clubs again and it would be like nothing ever happened.

“What are you freaking out about, it was a shitty model anyway. I’ll just buy you a better one, now will you fucking look at this?”

Im Nayeon was the bane of her existence.

Dahyun flew up to her feet and slapped away the phone that was still being showed to her.

“Do you ever shut up!?” Dahyun screamed at her, fists tightly clenched.

Nayeon finally lowered her phone, seemingly taken aback either by the screaming or the crying. Maybe both.

Dahyun rarely raised her voice in anything that resembled anger.

“Did you-” Nayeon looked less confident now. The tears threatening to spill out of Dahyun’s eyes seemed to have made her uncomfortable.

Good.

“Did you send this?” Nayeon repeated, this time going for offering her the phone instead of pushing it on to her like the devil she was.

Dahyun sniffled again despite herself and reached out to take the phone.

**Unknown**

_Kindly read all the letters to Kim Dahyun before Monday September 21 st._

_[PDF]_

Dahyun scoffed, throwing the phone back to Nayeon who barely managed to catch it much to her disappointment.

She couldn’t believe that the text was why Nayeon had been so angry that she’d purposely broken her phone.

“No, I got one like that too a couple of days ago.” Nayeon was visibly gaining back some fire in her eyes, so Dahyun put her hand over the girl’s mouth so she had no choice but to listen. “Do you realize what you just did? How about you use that future med student brain to think instead of just acting on impulse like you always do. I’m sorry if you think that it’s pathetic that I’m crying over an old cellphone, but not all of us have the luxury of having so much money that- that we don’t know what to do with it anymore. Next time you see me and I’m serving you coffee at Starbucks to pay for my crappy phone to be repaired, I hope-I hope you know it’s all your fault.”

Great, she made herself cry again.

Dahyun did feel a tad pathetic for being sad over having to work. Still, she knew getting a job was the beginning of the end. She had avoided being forced to work by joining a lot of clubs and becoming council and class president under the basis of building her resumé for college. If she started making money though, she would end up like her brother and her father would milk her for the money. If he got a taste of Dahyun being able to bring him a paycheck, he wouldn’t let her quit. She’d never be free again and she could kiss her college dreams goodbye.

It felt like her body was catching up for not having cried in awhile, and the sobs and tears seemed more intense.

Perhaps Dhayun had just forgotten what it felt like to cry.

Dahyun would have left already but something kept her feet planted to the floor. She did, however, hide her face in her hands, because as much fun as it was to make Nayeon uncomfortable, the other girl seeing her crying face was worse.

Nayeon walked closer to her and Dahyun’s outer hands were tickled by strands of hair. Arms brushed hesitantly against her own, probably contemplating wrapping around her, but Dahyun prevented it by pushing them back. Dahyun was not about to have another first tonight by hugging Satan. Instead, Nayeon just stepped forward until Dahyun had no choice but to pull away or lean against her.

Dahyun didn’t pull away.

“I’m gonna buy you a new one,” Nayeon said and her breath hit Dahyun’s ear warmly.

The older girl didn’t offer an apology, but Dahyun didn’t want one. She would have never accepted it anyway.

Like everything eventually does, the sobbing ended and the tears dried up. Dahyun was left leaning stiffly against Nayeon with her face on the girl’s shirt and her hands tucked in between their two bodies. Nayeon’s hands hadn’t reached out to her again, and she saw them hang awkwardly at her side.

“What did they blackmail you with?” Dahyun asked, effectively breaking the silence.

“I’m not telling you. What did they blackmail you with?”

“Not telling you. What are these letters you need to read me?”

“How about we agree not to tell each other jack shit, this is going nowhere.”

Dahyun hummed against the girl’s shoulder.

“Love confessions, I knew it.” Nayeon scoffed. Dahyun felt the action reverberate through her, which was her cue that they had been too close for too long and she stepped back. “My text said to invite Tzuyu to the party, so it was easy-peasy. Must’ve been excruciating to know that you had to talk to me again,” she added offhandedly.

Nayeon gave her a look that could only mean trouble. Dahyun could tell she wasn’t imploding because she felt bad for the phone.

“What? And she’s here? Where? Did you tell her?”

“The text told me to invite her, she is here, I can’t find her and no. Why would I tell her?”

“You idiot!” Nayeon ran a hand through her hair as she started pacing. Dahyun was at a loss about where the frustration was coming from. “We have to find her. Some creep blackmailed you so you would make Tzuyu go to the party, and now she’s nowhere to be found? How do you not see how fucked up that is?”

Nayeon was making a big deal out of nothing.

“You’re being dramatic, but it is cute that you both have little crushes on each other.”

Dahyun made a show of putting her hand above her heart like Nayeon’s concern for the younger girl touched her deeply.

“God, you’re so-” Nayeon cut herself off, obviously struggling to come up with a fitting adjective. Maybe Dahyun could buy her a Thesaurus; help her expand her lackluster vocabulary. “…Hollow.”

Oh?

_Oh._

Perhaps her vocabulary didn’t need any polishing up after all.

Hollow was adequate; not sophisticated enough that it stood out like a sore thumb, but not too common as to not have as much of an impact.

She found it quite fitting to describe herself as well.

Dahyun didn’t really see the use in defending herself, so she went with a nonchalant shrug.

If Dahyun was messed up, then Nayeon was twice as messed up as she was. No sooner were her shoulders sagging than Nayeon’s lips were on hers. Whereas a hug was too much, kissing was familiar territory. Dahyun didn’t waste time reciprocating, her mouth moved on its own and her hands instinctively settled on the girl’s hips. It always felt rushed with Nayeon. As if the girl was running out of time and hurrying was the only way to do things. Maybe she was afraid that Dahyun wouldn’t make her feel enough if she was too soft, or maybe all she had ever learned was how to do it hard. Either way, Dahyun didn’t hate it. Nayeon bit her bottom lip and Dahyun gasped, having already anticipated the tongue that invaded her mouth a second later. She felt nails digging into the back of her neck and responded in kind by grabbing the older girl’s waist and bringing her closer.

Nayeon kissed her like she wanted to fix her. Like if she held Dahyun tight enough, she could put her back together. Nayeon kissed her like she was trying to fill a void in her that she hated having to look at. Like she wanted to make her a little less hollow each time.

Dahyun kissed Nayeon like she had something to prove. Because if she could fool Nayeon into thinking that she wasn’t so broken, than everyone else would believe it too.

Dahyun marveled at the times that her own mind managed to be tricked by Im Nayeon.

Because sometimes, Dahyun would be with her, and find that she didn’t feel so empty anymore.

***

**Chae Best Bro (:**

_hewwwo im chillin in the kitchen_

_i don’t know where tzuyu is she left me ):_

_I texted her but she wont answer me smh_

**Chewy -_- <3**

_Bathroom_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) :) :) :) :)

**Author's Note:**

> :)


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